We are delighted to report that very nearly £3,000 of our £12,000 target has already been raised which is simply amazing … Also, two friends of ours have committed to fundraise and drive ambulances themselves and there is the possibility of collaborating with a Canadian charity to fundraise for even more ambulances to be sent where they are desperately needed … This is a phenomenal response and we are hugely grateful to you for it.
Thank you!
If you have not yet donated but would like to do so please click the button above. Likewise, if you know anyone who you think would like to support our endeavour (or who would like to fundraise and drive an ambulance to Ukraine) please do share our blog and/or get in touch. From our conversations with Aliya we know that there are so many more exciting plans being developed (it is even possible that an additional ambulance will be sent before we go – the need is that urgent …) so the effort is unrelenting.
We have been asked a few questions about exactly what we’re doing. In this blog we would like to share some answers …
This ambulance is going to be donated to Pobuzka Village Children’s Hospital. Much of the equipment that can be useful to the war effort has been appropriated by the military. This has left the children’s hospital with no proper way of moving those children who are desperately in need of transportation. Aliya Aralbaeva (the lady who is organising all of this) has found a way of structuring the ownership of the ambulance so that it cannot legally be appropriated which should mean that our children’s hospital can own it for many years to come ….
The hospital itself has recently had a refurbishment but has a real need of this ambulance.
In terms of the specifics: yes we will be driving into Ukraine … but by not very far!
We plan to leave home on 14 August (our wedding anniversary!) staying in Germany on the first night and Poland on the second night before delivering it just inside Ukraine on the Tuesday morning then flying home from Kraków that night. When we get into Ukraine Aliya has arranged for us to meet a local partner who will then drive the rest of the way to the hospital. This reduces the physical risk to us and shortens the journey which would otherwise quite possibly take rather a lot longer!
In addition to the very substantial financial support we have also received a vast amount of supplies to be taken out to Ukraine. This ranges from nappies to wheelchairs, clothes to Calpol, compression bandages to baby milk (and a spare tyre!).
If you don’t believe us, this is what the back of the ambulance looks like at the moment …
In the time between now and our departure we continue to fundraise, to raise the profile of what we’re doing, to try to get more people involved and to put in place the detailed plans for our big adventure (insurance, a ticket to travel across the Channel, address any customs issues, work out where to stay …).
Do keep checking back for the latest, and if you haven’t yet donated but would like do so here’s that button again!
